Happy Beginnings
by ConfusedColumbia26220
Summary: When Henry leaves Storybrooke, he doesn't leave Regina completely alone.
1. Chapter 1

August 11, 2020

It was hard saying goodbye to Henry and watching him ride off into a portal to a different world. He was 18, though, turning 19 on the 15th, a proper man by this world's legal definition, and it was time to let go a little and trust he could take care of himself.

An impossible feat, had he left her alone. But he hadn't.

Henry had been 14 years old at Emma's wedding on May 7, 2016, and during the time of the Final Battle.

Henry had been 15 when his sister, Irena May, was born on February 3, 2017, after Emma's divorce, which had been, surprisingly, October 22, 2016, and when Regina legally adopted her.

Henry was 16 when his mothers got married on September 4, 2017, the best man. When his sister turned 1, he was there to make Emma feel less guilty about missing his own first birthday, hugging her until Regina decided to take over.

When Henry was 17, his mothers had managed to make a baby that was biologically both of theirs, probably with the help of magic. Regina was the carrier.

His baby brother was born after he turned 18 on August 15, 2019, and after his sister had turned 3 on February 3, 2020. He could still feel his hand being crushed at the birth, which was on February 11, 2020.

That was 6 months ago to the date. Henry's 19th birthday was just days away, and he decided it was time to be out of his mothers' hair, give the spotlight over to his siblings, instead.

Regina closed the door as she came back into the house.

"Mama! I drew a cat!"

Regina knelt down so she was level with the girl that had raven curls, holding up a piece of paper that she claimed had a drawing of a cat. If you used your imagination, it did. She smiled. "Very good, Irena!" She felt pride in the fact the 'cat' was black. "I think this needs to go on our fridge."

Irena hugged her happily, then dashed off into the kitchen.

Regina followed, shaking her head. Ah, kids. She pinned the drawing to the fridge with magnets, then watched as Irena played with the letter magnets, rearranging them into adorably misspelled words.

"Where is Mommy, Irena?" Regina asked.

The squawk from the baby monitor answered her question, as she heard soft singing.

Regina lightly ruffled Irena's hair affectionately. "Stay here, sweetie. Mama will be back." She left the kitchen then, and went up the stairs, ultimately finding Emma and their son in the rocker of the nursery.

"He just fell asleep," Emma murmured quietly.

Regina nodded. "Sweet little Adam Emmett."

Emma shook her head. "How did I let you talk me into that?"

Regina shrugged. "Because you love me?"

Emma stood up and carefully put Adam down in his crib. "I do," she agreed. She left the room, taking Regina's hand, pulling her into the hallway. "He's 6 months old now. When did the doc say you were good to be active, again?"

Regina rolled her eyes with a soft laugh. "6 months."

Emma kissed her softly. "Don't worry, I'm not going to jump you right now." She hugged her. "How are you doing?"

Regina swallowed, leaning into her arms. "Well, Henry's rode off into his portal. But then Irena drew us a cat. I put it on the fridge."

"Aww." Emma kissed Regina's cheek. "It's okay to miss him. Don't ever feel badly about that."

A quiet sob escaped. "It feels like I should be grateful for Irena and Adam instead."

"You can do both. Henry brought us all together." Emma kissed the top of her head. "What do you say I make something for us and Irena to eat?"

Regina laughed. "I'd like to see you try."

"Oh, now you've done it, Missy! I'll make the best meal ever, just because you doubt me."

Regina lifted her head with a smile and shook it. "I love you so much."

Emma kissed her again. "I love you, too." She lightly smacked her ass and then ran away, racing to the stairs to get to the kitchen before Regina could catch her and make her pay for that.

On February 14th, 2021, and Regina and Emma had tons to celebrate. Regina's birthday had been on the 1st, their daughter's 4th birthday had on the 3rd, and their son that was all theirs, Adam Emmett, had his 1st birthday on the 11th.

Henry had left home around half a year ago, just days before his 19th birthday. It would have been much harder on Regina without her wife of nearly 3 years, 3 year old, and exactly 6 month old. That had been August 11, 2020. They hadn't heard anything from him since he left, and they hadn't expected to.

It was a Sunday, so Regina and Emma were going out. Regina had the still single Zelena bring her niece over so the close in age cousins could play under the redhead's watch. Robin, Zelena's girl, had just turned 5 in November of 2020.

As soon as the girls saw each other, their mommies were forgotten, allowing Regina and Emma to slip out of the house without much delay.

"Man, I can't believe my baby brother is turning 7 in May. It feels like just yesterday we were trying to protect him from your sister," Emma commented.

"Really? Feels like an entire lifetime ago, to me." Regina wrapped an arm around Emma's waist. "I'm surprised you don't have even more siblings yet."

Emma groaned. "Don't encourage them, they might listen."

Regina laughed. "I won't."

Emma leaned her head against Regina's as they walked. "So, where are we going?"

"Oh, just Granny's," Regina answered.

"But Granny's diner, or Granny's hotel?"

"You'll see."

Emma laughed. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

Regina pulled open the door to Granny's diner, smirking at Emma's expression. "Don't look so disappointed, dear. Food is an excellent source of energy." She winked at her.

Emma grinned and skipped through the door, then, and all the way to what had become known as their booth.

Regina chuckled as she followed at her usual pace, sitting across from her once she reached the booth. "Let me guess, hot cocoa with whipped cream and cinnamon for the drink, burger and fries for the meal?"

Emma scoffed. "Am I really that predictable?"

Regina just smiled and shrugged.

"Well, I think you'll have a strawberry smoothie, lobster salad, and fried mozzarella sticks."

"It's like we don't even need menus." Regina tapped the tip of Emma's nose with the tip of her finger. "We just know each other."

Emma caught Regina's wrist, pressing a kiss to her knuckles before lowering their hands to the table and lacing their fingers together.

Mere moments later, Granny was hand delivering their orders that hadn't even been placed.

"Apparently, so does Granny. I'm not sure if that's a sign we come here too much, or if we're too boring," Emma mused once the elder woman had left the table.

"She's just observant." Regina took a sip from her smoothie. "And when have we ever been boring, dear?"

Emma took the opportunity when Regina wasn't looking to swipe at the whipped cream with her finger and smear it on the tip of her wife's nose. "Maybe not boring, just domesticated?"

Regina playfully glared at her. "You are cleaning that up, Mrs. Swan-Mills."

Emma leaned across the table. "You asked for it." She very quickly licked the tip of Regina's nose with her tongue, effectively removing the whipped cream, then sank bank into her seat, giggling.

"Ugh! I thought I married a person, not a dog." Regina grabbed a napkin and wiped at her nose.

"Oh, come on, Regina. Don't pretend our children haven't gotten you worse." Emma raised her eyebrows knowingly.

Regina rolled her eyes, crumpling up the napkin. "That would be because they are children! Brat."

Emma grinned smugly. She loved when she got to banter with Regina, without distraction from the kids or work. She treasured the time they got to have together, just the two of them. She picked up her burger, poking her tongue out at Regina briefly before taking her first bite.

Regina bit into one of her mozzarella sticks. This was their 4th Valentine's Day as a married couple, and she looked forward to reaching the 10th, 15th, and beyond.

They continued their meal in relative silence, until, "I miss him. I can't help but realize this is our first Valentine's Day without him home. I remember our first one was so soon after Irena was born, and even though I couldn't do a whole lot, Henry insisted he could watch his sister for a few hours so we could just relax together."

Regina smiled bittersweetly. "Ah, yes, 15 and sacrificing time that could have been spent with Violet for his moms. That's our boy. I will always miss him. We'll blink, Irena and Adam will have grown up, and I'll miss them, too."

"Woah, slow down there. Adam just turned 1, literally three days ago. We've got so much more time with them." Emma leaned across the table to kiss her softly.

Regina broke the kiss after a few moments. "Let's finish up here, then we can have our dessert." She winked to further convey what she meant.

Emma nuzzled her nose against Regina's before hurrying to finish what was left of her food.

Regina smiled to herself as she finished her meal with a tad more eloquence than her wife. She rose from the table and made her way to the shortcut where the diner turned into the hotel.

Emma scrambled behind her wife once she'd successfully, albeit messily, finished eating. She caught up to Regina just in time to notice that their room was number 7. She smiled. Of course it was.

Regina unlocked the door, pushed it open, removed the key and stashed it away. She lounged on the bed and looked at Emma. "Don't forget to close the door behind you."

Emma made sure the door was not only closed, but locked, before playfully pouncing on Regina, causing the latter to squeal with laughter. She attacked her face with kisses before bringing her lips to her ear to whisper, "Happy Valentine's Day."


	2. Chapter 2

Regina kissed Emma deeply, holding her close. Balancing intimacy and raising their children, plus working, was difficult, even with magic. They did the best they could, and always took their alone time to the fullest advantage, whatever that meant at the time. It couldn't always be sex, at least one of them was too exhausted - most of the time. This Valentine's Day had been carefully arranged to ensure both parties had plenty of energy.

Emma threaded a hand through Regina's hair. She began trailing her lips away from her wife's, kissing down to her jaw, then up that defined jawline, towards her ear.

"Oh, Emma," Regina sighed her name at the pleasant sensations, eyes fluttering closed. She gasped when she felt soft lips wrap around her earlobe, teeth lightly tugging. "Fuck," she whispered.

"Oh, I intend to," Emma husked into her ear. She sat up, shifting so she was on top of the bed instead of Regina. "Sit up," she told her.

Regina did as told, lifting her arms above her head as soon as she saw Emma's hands reach for the hem of her shirt. She was glad to have it removed, as it had started to get too warm for clothing.

"You are so damn beautiful." Emma traced her fingertips along Regina's collarbone, knowing her breasts were extra tender. "Let me know if you start feeling like you'll explode. I can help." She winked.

Regina laughed. "I bet you can." She pushed Emma's jacket off, then pulled off her tank top. "Oh my." She grinned upon discovering her wife had decided not to wear a bra. "How did I not notice that already?"

Emma shrugged innocently. "I was distracting you with other things?" she suggested.

"Well, whatever the case," Regina drawled. She placed her hands on Emma's chest, above her breasts. "Lay back, Princess." She gently pushed her backwards.

Emma laid gracefully down on the bed, smiling up at Regina. "Now what, Your Majesty?"

Regina carefully straddled her, then proceeded to cover her neck in kisses, trying not to bite, though it wouldn't be the end of the world if Emma bore some marks. She slowly lowered those kisses, smiling against her skin at the noises elicited. She kissed all along her collarbone, then moved her hands to brace herself on the bed. She took her time showering Emma's breasts in tender and loving kisses.

Emma squirmed, whining in a pant, "We still have too many clothes..."

"Patience love," Regina swirled her tongue around one of Emma's nipples before drawing it into her mouth, sucking gently.

Emma let out a strangled moan, "Oh my god!" Her underwear was as good as ruined at that point.

"Mmm." Regina lightly ground into her, just to be evil.

"N-No fair!"

Regina released her nipple with a pop, raising a challenging eyebrow at her. "Do you want me to stop?"

"Actually..." Emma wrapped her arms around Regina, flipping them carefully so she was atop of Regina. She found the zipper to her pencil skirt, pulling it down so she could tug the skirt off. She smiled at her, silently asking permission, as she was a gentlelady. Regina nodded her consent, parting her legs a bit to make it easier. Emma gripped her underwear, which she slowly slid down her legs until she could pull them off.

Instead of immediately diving between her legs, Emma rested her cheek against Regina's stomach. She traced lingering stretch marks and scars with a featherlight touch. They enhanced her wife's beauty, rather than took away from it. "Thank you for loving me so much," she whispered.

Regina stroked gentle fingers through Emma's hair. "Come back up here," she murmured.

Emma lifted her head, leaning into the hand that moved to cradle her cheek. After a moment, she continued moving forward until she was hovering parallel to Regina.

Regina gave her a kiss that was all tender passion. "You have more than earned every ounce of it," she solemnly stated. "You make me so happy, and I am not going anywhere." She smiled fondly at her. "You're stuck with me now."

Emma nuzzled Regina's nose with her own. "Permission to go back down?"

"Yes, please." Regina bit her lip in anticipation.

Emma began her descent, kissing a slow line down Regina's body, worshiping every inch of skin her lips touched along the way to her destination. Once settled into position, Emma dragged the tip of her tongue in an elongated swipe from opening to clit. Regina spasmed at the ministration, moaning in a way that sent heat straight to Emma's core. Emma repeated the action a couple times at a faster pace, moving her arms to support Regina's thighs.

"Em-ma!" Regina felt like she was flooding into her mouth already. She gripped onto the sheets as her thighs closed around Emma's head, wanting her even closer.

Emma shoved her tongue as deeply inside her as she could, burying her face in her, prepared to drown if that was what it took. She would die extremely happy. She drank as much of her down as she could before withdrawing, moving to focus on the bundle of nerves.

Regina's hips lifted on their own accord, as if that could enable Emma to have even more of her in her mouth. Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut as little jolts of pleasure shot through her at the skilled pulls of Emma's tongue and lips.

Emma continued what she was doing, as it was working, only time was needed for the ultimate result, and that was something they had plenty of. Of course, that was assuming Emma could continue ignoring her own wetness being held hostage against her by the underwear and jeans she still wore.

When Regina started to feel like all the veins throughout her body were on fire, she released her grip on the sheets with one hand, to palm her own breast, squeezing lightly, as anything harder would be too much for her current level of sensitivity. The combined sensations drew a prolonged moan from deep inside her chest. Her legs began to tremble, and she knew she was rapidly approaching that proverbial edge.

Emma sensed how close Regina was, and increased her pace to get her there faster. If Regina's audible reaction wasn't a complete giveaway that she reached release, the rush of liquid Emma could feel on her chin would have told her of her success. She immediately moved her focus back down, long, light strokes of her tongue lapping at her reward, cleaning up her mess while hopefully also extending her wife's orgasm.

Regina was panting and gasping for air when she returned to earth, and was grateful for Emma's gentle untangling of her legs that had been reduced to jelly. Emma had moved them to let them lay in their natural state, then sat back on her heels to admire all the little things she loved about the aftermath that were uniquely Regina's.

"I...I'm gonna need a minute..." Regina rasped breathlessly. "O-Or twenty."

Emma laid beside her. "That's okay. We've got time." But she couldn't stay in her restrictive jeans any longer. She wiggled her way out of them, and gladly tossed her underwear away as well. Once that was done, she gently draped an arm over Regina's stomach, wanting to be close without agitating anything sensitive. She kissed her forehead lovingly. "Let me know if you need water or anything," she murmured. Regina being dehydrated wouldn't be good.

Regina smiled weakly, still out of it, but gradually regaining her strength. She had enough energy to curl into Emma to use her chest as a pillow.

Emma grinned, gladly holding her, even if it had to be lightly. She pressed a lingering kiss to the top of her head. 

"I love you, too," Regina mumbled into her chest, verbally returning the silent sentiment she felt overwhelmingly.

Emma snorted at how easily Regina got in her head. She lightly rubbed her back. She cleared her throat. "You mean everything to me. I'm not sure I tell you enough," she murmured, feeling particularly emotional.

Regina slowly lifted her head, catching Emma's eyes before planting her lips on hers in a languid and sensual kiss. It seemed to increase her energy rather than withdraw from it, so without breaking the kiss, Regina moved her hand down to gently cup between Emma's legs. Her wife moaned appreciatively, also surprised. Regina lightly ground the heel of her palm against her, exploring fingers softly playing over her wetness. Emma tightened her grip, shifting entirely on her back so Regina was on top of her, but she didn't let the kiss break.

Regina felt this was a moment for tenderness, so she was sure to keep her movements slow, although not tortuously so. She took her time stroking through Emma's folds. Their kiss muffled Emma's happy cry of pleasure when two fingers slid easily inside her. She had to break for air when the gentle pumping began, and was rewarded with warm brown eyes regarding her with adoration.

Emma's heart did a backflip as she felt herself falling in love all over again, for the thousandth time, butterflies taking over her entire body. One hand caressed Regina's cheek, thumb stroking softly. She felt her hips begin to move in time with Regina's fingers in a gentle rhythm. "You are so good to me," she whispered. She moaned when just the right spot was hit, another moan following straight after as it was hit again. She threw her head back against the pillow, exposing the long expanse of her neck.

Regina wasted no time lowering her lips to the skin of Emma's neck, once again covering every inch in sweet kisses. She was now intentionally hitting the same good spot repetitively, enjoying the vibration through Emma's throat that she could feel against her lips, wanting to make her feel just as amazing as she had done for her. Her free hand found one of Emma's, and their fingers linked together immediately.

Regina only slightly increased the pace of her fingers as she ran her tongue along the shell of Emma's ear, lightly blowing at the moisture she had created afterwards. Emma's sigh of pleasure was endearing. She felt her wife tighten around her fingers and knew it wouldn't be much longer, she had already been plenty turned on before her hand was anywhere near being below her waist. "I want you to feel good," she husked sincerely into Emma's still slightly wet ear. She knew her more sultry register was something her wife enjoyed very much.

Emma squeezed her hand. "Oh, Re-Gina!" She turned her head to claim Regina's lips with her own once more, kissing her the same way as when Regina initiated the previous kiss. She wanted to feel as much of Regina as possible when she skyrocketed to cloud nine. Feel the strength of their love.

The sensual gliding of tongues, paired with an unexpected curl of fingers, sent Emma flying. She knew vaguely in the back of her mind that she was soaking Regina's fingers and squeezing her hand perhaps a little too tightly. Regina lingered in the kiss, using it to help Emma ride out the high, then guide her back down. She only broke the kiss when Emma was too exhausted to be responsive to it.

Regina smiled at her spent wife struggling to keep her eyes open, soaking in how beautiful Emma was in such a blissful state. She didn't remove her fingers just yet, wanting her to be more recuperated first. She nuzzled her nose with her own.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Emma."


	3. Chapter 3

Regina and Emma finally moved underneath the blankets of the bed after their activities on top of them. They just cuddled, spent and cooling down.

"Maybe we should just stay overnight, sleep in this bed," Emma suggested sleepily before yawning.

"Tempting as that is, we can't do that to Zelena, Em. She is only used to one rugrat, not three. She's probably struggling with just these few hours and avoiding calling us home early."

Emma sighed in defeat, knowing Regina was right. "Can we at least nap a little while before we go? I'm comfy."

"Of course, darling." Regina smiled before kissing her softly, chastely.

Minutes later, Emma was predictably the first to fall asleep. Regina remained awake, watching her, silently studying her. She wondered if she needed to be worried, and sincerely hoped not. She wouldn't be surprised, however. Emma tried so hard to shelter her when she was beating herself up, but Regina almost always saw through it. She had been there herself, sometimes for years at a time.

Regina gently tucked a strand of loose hair behind the sleeping Emma's ear, vowing to herself to find out if anything was going on before they left. She began drifting off, somewhat unwillingly, and soon joined Emma in sleep.

After two hours, they slowly woke, still wrapped up in each other.

"I love waking up like this," Emma whispered.

Regina smiled at the sentiment, though she couldn't quite shake her earlier feeling. "Emma, I'm concerned."

Emma frowned slightly. "About?"

"You. Is something wrong that you don't want to tell me?" Regina asked point blank.

Emma dropped her gaze, hiding her eyes. "I'm afraid," she choked out her admission through a constricting throat.

"Talk to me," Regina coaxed gently, cupping her cheek. "What are you afraid of?"

Emma lifted her eyes. "Running out of time. I got here on my 28th birthday, and now I'm 37. Those years flew by so fast. You, my parents, and everyone else still just don't age. I don't want to add my name to the list of people you've had to lose. As it is now, I am going to die on you someday. I... I don't want to," Emma's voice broke at the end, tears spilling over.

Regina pulled her further into her arms, holding her as close and as tight as possible, despite the personal discomfort it caused her physically. "Don't you even think of it, my love. I'm touched that you don't want to leave me, it means the world, but please don't worry about that. I promise, we are going to have so much more time, and I don't make empty promises." She pressed tons of kisses to the top of her head. Then she cradled Emma's face and brushed away all her tears.

Emma decided to trust her, feeling that she believed every word she had spoken, and nodded slowly. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it's alright." Regina shifted back so there was less pressure against her breasts.

Emma frowned, realizing Regina had made herself endure unnecessary pain just to comfort her. She dipped her head down, very lightly kissing the area just above each of her nipples.

"Oh." Regina closed her eyes. "That felt nice."

Emma carefully gave Regina's breasts more light kisses, covering as much area as possible, then trailed kisses up her neck until she reached her lips, which she kissed lovingly.

Regina smiled into the kiss, letting it linger. "Feeling better?" she murmured against her lips.

Emma broke the kiss to answer, "Yes, much. You?"

Regina was momentarily confused, then caught on to what Emma was referring to. "I think you've kissed it all better." Regina carefully untangled herself from Emma, then got out of the bed, heading to the mini fridge. She opened the door to pull out two mini plastic water bottles. She returned to the bed, handing one to Emma. "Here, hydrate." She twisted the cap off her own and took a swig. She could actually feel it traveling through her body. "Share a shower before we get dressed and head home?"

A slow smile crept across Emma's face just as she finished swallowing some water herself. "I like the way you think."

The couple made it home by a reasonable enough hour, 6:00 PM. They barely had a chance to get through the door before a blonde ball of energy ran up to them, dragging her giggling cousin with her. Zelena watched on with crossed arms, looking hopeless and clueless.

"Aunties! Aunties!" Robin exclaimed, literally bouncing now. She looked at Irena, then back up at them. In unison, they proceeded to ask,

"Can we have a sleepover, please?" It was followed by twin grins and fluttering eyelashes.

Emma bit down on her lower lip, choosing to remain silent, knowing there was no way in hell she could resist such adorable master manipulation.

Regina did her best to keep a straight face and looked at Zelena to see what she thought of that.

Zelena's expression had a small 'o' of surprise, indicating she had not known anything in advance. But then she grinned and mouthed, 'Please!'

Regina looked at Emma, which turned out to be useless, as the look on her face told her it was entirely her decision to make. She looked at the girls again. "Well, Robin, that depends on how your mother feels about that."

The girls turned to look at Zelena expectantly with their best puppy dog eyes.

Zelena pretended the idea wasn't as thrilling as it actually was, sighing heavily. "Well... I suppose I can part with you, for this one night. But I'll miss you so much, Robin. I'll come get you early in the morning." She glanced at Regina briefly.

'Seven,' Regina mouthed.

"At seven," Zelena concluded. "It is 6 in the evening right now, that means you get to stay 13 hours." She didn't mention that most of those hours would/should be spent sleeping.

"Yay!" Both girls hopped excitedly, rushing to attack Emma and Regina's legs with hugs, then Zelena's. They all appreciated the endearing affection of thanks. Then the girls zoomed off.

"Don't bother Adam!" Emma called out her one request to them.

"You two are saints," Zelena told them once she was sure the girls were out of hearing range, but at a quieter tone, just in case.

"Well, there's two of us and only one of you," Regina reasoned. "You dealt with them, now it's our turn."

Zelena smiled gratefully. "I appreciate it. I could use the break. I'll just pop home quick to grab some pajamas, clothes, and toiletries for her. She gently squeezed Regina's shoulder as she passed her to get to the door. "Happy Valentine's Day, sis."

Then Zelena was out the door, trotting off with a sort of sashay. Regina chuckled as she made sure to lock the door behind her. "Well, I guess I'll check on Adam and see if he's hungry, then get started on dinner."

Emma tsked as shook her head. "No, no, we are not cooking anything. It's a sleepover! We'll order pizza."

"Alright. But that means you're the one who has to put them to bed and make sure they actually get a good night's sleep," Regina agreed with conditions. "Succeed in that, and I'll get up to check on Adam every time he seems to need something in the middle of the night."

"That...That isn't even a lot, lately."

Regina shrugged. "You want the pizza? That's the deal."

"Fine, challenge accepted. Just don't cheat by getting them all hyped up on sugar right before bed time. That just wouldn't be fair."

Regina smirked. "I hadn't even thought of it until you just gave me the idea."

"Regina!"

Regina smiled. "Relax. I'm not eager to tick Zelena off, so I won't pump her full of sugar."

"And Irena?" Emma cocked an eyebrow knowingly.

"Good catch, alas, I won't pump her full of sugar, either." Regina shook her head. "I should go check on Adam, though. Keep an eye on the girls?"

Emma nodded her acceptance, though part of her wanted to join Regina in checking in on their son.

She found the girls playing together in the living room, with both dolls and toy monster trucks, because fuck gender roles. Regina had turned out surprisingly progressive in that regard, thanks to her own restrictive youth. The was no doubt the woman was feminine as hell, but Emma had never seen her in anything that was gag me pink and overly frilly – not even when she was limited in the fashion department due to maternity clothing.

Emma smirked as the little monsters ran over one of the dolls with a truck, mind instantly flashing back to Zelena ramming into the Black Fairy, extremely bad driving skills proving useful. Still, she had to show some sort of authority,

"Don't play too roughly, we don't want anyone getting hurt or anything getting broken." She moved to sit on the couch.

The two briefly paused their playing, looking at her to show they had received the message, then resumed.

Emma smiled, glad the cousins were so close. It was pretty amazing, given who their parents were. But the sisters' relationship had much improved from the volatile state it used to be in.

Meanwhile, Regina stepped over the gate at the foot of the stairs, ascended them, then stepped over the one at the top. It was tedious, but not as much as trying to shift them out and back into place. She continued to the nursery, finding Adam standing in his crib while holding onto the bars.

Regina beamed proudly. "Well, look at you! Such strength you have!" she praised. She snapped a picture with her phone, which she had brought with her for such picture-worthy moments. She immediately texted it to Emma, along with a caption of, 'SO CUTE!'

Then, she put her phone away, giving her sole focus to Adam. She approached the crib, smiling when he raised his arms toward her, then frowning when that made him fall back on his butt. She scooped him up into her arms before he could start to cry. "You're okay, sweetie," she cooed soothingly. She kissed his temple, lovingly stroking his back. Small arms launched against her chest in an uncoordinated hug.

"Mama."

Regina swallowed down the whimper that wanted to come out at the accidental assault of her sensitive upper body. The pain still caused tears to glitter in her eyes, however, she smiled at the intended affection. "Are you hungry?" Her answer came a few moments later with a small, wet mouth searching for her nipple. "Woah, buddy. Guess so." She carried him to the rocking chair, shifting him into one arm when she sat down, using the other to lift her shirt up for him. Adam soon latched on to his target, suckling immediately.

Regina reclined in the rocker, holding Adam so that he was laying against her stomach vertically, so as to strengthen his own. One hand rested on his bottom over his diaper strategically, so she would know immediately if it would need changing. She closed her eyes, knowing the day was coming, sooner than she'd like, when the breastfeeding would have to stop. She was going to miss it. It was a beautiful bonding experience, one she had never gotten to have with Henry and wished she had, thinking maybe it would have helped him be a little less fussy in those early days. It also managed her figure spectacularly, something Emma surely appreciated.

By 7:30 PM, the girls were in their pajamas, Zelena having dropped in earlier as she'd said she would with some of Robin's things, Adam was occupied in the playpen, and Emma and Regina were serving up freshly delivered pizza on paper plates for the four of them at the kitchen table.

Their Valentine's Day had been very well spent, both women were happy they got just the right mix of alone time and family time. They went to bed that night happily, though dreading the coming Monday morning.


End file.
